Capital Countdown: September 2007

3.5 — Amount, in millions, of an earmark requested by Representative Bob Inglis, a Republican from South Carolina. The money was mistakenly directed in a defense-spending bill to the lobbying firm Cassidy & Associates, as reported by Congressional Quarterly Today. The money was intended to go to a textile-manufacturing company but was sent to its lobbyists instead, raising more questions about how closely the earmark system is scrutinized.

38 — Percentage of flights at Reagan National Airport that were late in June, the highest in the region.

88 — Percentage of the time that US Airways Flight 2184, the 7 pm shuttle from Reagan National to New York LaGuardia, was late in June, the worst of any Washington flight.

65 — Average number of minutes it was late in June.

2.3 — New selling price, in millions, for Ted Koppel’s 9,000-square-foot house in Potomac. The house was first listed in May 2005 for $4.1 million.

306,000 — Number of supporters in the Facebook.com group “One Million Strong for Barack” when Slate discovered that Rudolph Giuliani’s daughter, Caroline, was a member of the group.

5.21 — Career ERA of Nationals pitcher Mike Bacsik, who gave up the 756th home run to Barry Bonds when he broke Hank Aaron’s record.

This piece originally appeared in the September 2007 edition of the magazine.

Garrett M. Graff